RSL’S JEAN ALEXANDRE NAMED MLS PLAYER
OF THE WEEK FOR WEEK 12
Emergency Striker’s First Goal and
Assist in League Play Lead Haitian International to First Weekly Honor
SANDY, Utah / NEW YORK (Monday, June 6, 2011)– Real Salt Lake midfielder-turned-striker Jean Alexandre was voted MLS Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) after he notched a goal and an assist in RSL’s 2-0 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps FC last Saturday night. The goal and assist were the first in the Haitian international’s three seasons of MLS play, leading Alexandre to a landslide victory in this week’s NASR voting, capturing 13 of a possible 16 first-place votes en route to his first-ever weekly honor.
With RSL’s forward corps recently depleted by injuries and Gold Cup call-ups, Alexandre moved from his usual deep midfield role to forward for a second straight contest last Saturday, and it would not take long for the one-time prolific goal-scorer out of Lynn University to justify Head Coach Jason Kreis’ personnel decision. In the 32nd minute, MF Kyle Beckerman sent a pass through the Vancouver defense to Alexandre at the top of the box. As he received the ball, Alexandre held off one defender, then used a nifty step-over to brush by a second defender before slipping the ball past the charging goalkeeper for his first MLS goal in 26 career appearances.
Late in the second half, Alexandre’s quick feet helped set up the insurance goal. After a giveaway by Vancouver in the midfield, Alexandre evaded a sliding challenge and poked a through pass to FW Fabian Espíndola. In alone against goalkeeper Joe Cannon, Espindola coolly finished to the far post.
Alexandre is the second player from Real Salt Lake to garner the Player of the Week honor in 2011 (following up on MF Javier Morales’ win in Week 2), and it marks the first time this season that a team has had a second player receive the honor. The award was the 18th weekly honor given to a Real Salt Lake player in the club’s now seven seasons of play, adding him to a Player of the Week recipient list that also includes Jeff Cunningham (5), Javier Morales (4), Robbie Findley (2), Álvaro Saborío (2), Pablo Campos (1), Fabian Espíndola (1), Chris Klein (1) and Yura Movsisyan (1).
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season by a panel of journalists from NASR. The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media. More information can be found at http://www.soccerreporters.com/.
2011
MLS PLAYER OF THE WEEK WINNERS
Week
12: Jean Alexandre (Real Salt Lake)
Week 11: Justin Mapp (Philadelphia Union)
Week 10: Jeff Parke (Seattle Sounders FC)
Week 9: Justin Braun (Chivas USA)
Week 8: Joao Plata (Toronto FC)
Week 7: Will Bruin (Houston Dynamo)
Week 6: Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)
Week 5: Luke Rodgers (New York Red Bulls)
Week 4: David Ferreira (FC Dallas)
Week 3: Camilo (Vancouver Whitecaps)
Week
2: Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake)
Week 1: Omar Bravo (Sporting Kansas City)
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